Bill McGee’s business memoir illustrates what self-education, research, entrepreneurship, and drive can accomplish—and without a formal education. A highly recommended read.
– Melville Owen, Attorney-at-Law
Owen, Wickersham & Erickson
LUCKY ME Series – How To Succeed in Business Without a Formal Education (2-book series)
About How I Learned To Sell and Make Deals
Bill, how’d you like to make more money in a month selling Willys Jeeps than I bet you make in a year of cowboying?
—Al Meldrum to Bill McGee at a cocktail party
That one question changed everything.
Award-winning author William L. McGee tells the true story of why the Montana cowboy traded his Levis and boots for Brooks Brothers suits (as he liked to say), swapped his spurs for a sales job—and never looked back.
The year was 1949. Bill was living his dream as the head wrangler on a ritzy dude-divorce ranch near Reno, Nevada. But a chance meeting at a cocktail party led to an unexpected offer from a Willys Jeep distributor who saw in Bill something more than just a cowboy: a natural-born salesman.
What started as a temporary gig selling Jeeps became a launchpad into the fast-paced world of international business. Within a few months, Bill was making more money in a month selling automobiles than in a year of cowboying. Within a few years, he was an executive and top importer of wire and steel products on the West Coast, closing deals across the globe.
Told in McGee’s signature no-frills style, this memoir captures the spirit of postwar American enterprise—when deals were made on a handshake, and success came to those with hustle.
This is the story of how one man discovered that success doesn’t always follow the trail you think it will—and that sometimes, the best deals are the ones you never saw coming.
HOW I LEARNED TO SELL AND MAKE DEALS
Memoir of a Merchant Man, 1950-1958
Lucky Me Series – How To Succeed in Business Without a Formal Education (2-book series)
by William L. McGee, with Sandra V. McGee
BMC Publications, 2019
Paperback & eBook
Available from Amazon
Lucky Me Series – How To Succeed in Business Without a Formal Education (2-book series)
From the Author:
I’m not a celebrity, but I wanted to write my business memoirs in hopes of inspiring anyone who, like me, did not pursue a formal education with how they can still succeed in the career of their choice.
I’m a high school drop out and a college drop out. In 1942, I dropped out of high school in the tenth grade to get into the fight and contribute to the war effort. After the war, I tried college on the G.I. Bill and dropped out in my second semester. I couldn’t keep my head in the books.
But look at me as a guy who never quit. I was a self-starter, ambitious, willing to learn whether on the job or on my own. I read books and industry newsletters about the career I was interested in. And I kept in mind two of my favorite sayings by Henry J. Kaiser: Find a need and fill it and Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.
Henry J. Kaiser, a man I looked up to, dropped out of school in the eighth grade to help support his family. He was reportedly “quietly proud” of his success in spite of not completing his education.
I’m proud of my success, too—perhaps not so quietly. This is my story of how I still succeeded in business—and life—without the benefit of a formal education. I hope you enjoy the read.
—William L. McGee
Also in the Lucky Me Series
The Broadcasting Years 1958-1989